Illuminations of Mind
by Korenan
Summary: Ganondorf Dragmire died. Midna left. After a year, Link found a way back to the Twilight Realm. Zelda wants him back. A megalomaniac Zant fanboy wants more power. What next? ---A never to be finished story idea that was pretty much doomed to begin with.--
1. Chapter 1 The Twilight Realm

Illuminations of Mind 

Chapter 1

The Twilight Realm

Link moaned.

_Very _Loudly.

His head collapsed onto the desk with a quiet thump.

"Will you just be quiet!?" Midna snapped back to him from her seat one row ahead of him.

'But I'm huuuuungry…" He whispered back.

"Not now! Shhh!"

The teacher walked by them slowly, eyes still on his book in hand, as if to say, 'Shut up or die'. He twitched his long black ears and went back to the board at the front of the room, then continued his lecture.

Link was bored, that simple.

These Twilight Realm schools were horrible. Entirely different from the ones back home, even! Instead of having grades, there were Levels. Age did not matter. Level 1 was usually of younger Twili, and focused on physical ability, as well as basic knowledge.

Levels 2-4 were brutal. Only pain could describe them, and Link felt insanely embarrassed when he had to go through all the lower classes when he first arrived in the Twilight Realm. If not for Midna's rigorous training, he would still be in Level 2.

Levels 2-4 were all knowledge. Twili graduating from each of these levels were expected to know things that were never taught back in the Light Realm, such as advanced Magic(class 4 spells, matter displacement, and creation of a weapon from Twilight Particles), and even how to make a skilled politician feel woozy with your rambling of facts contradicting them.

And then there were levels 5-7.

The ninth level of hell.

All hope in life gone like that.

It was all combat. Hand-to-hand, sword, staff, magical, making anything into a weapon, body dexterity, flexibility, and then the only thing that wasn't getting your life shortened with each blow to the gut, Twili History.

Which is what Link, Midna, and her young bodyguard Knil were in right now, at level 6. To pass the deathly final, he had to defeat a tristar-class knight in magical ability, then another in armed combat.

_At the same time._

Link groaned again just thinking about it.

This time thought, the teacher whapped him on the head with his book, and hard. Even Zelda's occasional slaps on the back of the head were lighter, and that was really saying something. Even though he couldn't see it, both Midna and Knil rolled their eyes.

-------

"What the hell was that about!?" Midna bellowed in Link's face as their classes came to a close, and they embarked home from the 'school' that was conveniently shaped like a light realm castle.

Link blinked, his ears back against his head.

"I must agree with Midna here," Knil added, saying what would be most of his daily speech that was not lecturing Link, "You annoy _that_ teacher and you'll be a dead man.

They were walking down the path to the stairs up to the Palace of Twilight. The majestic gold-colored sky loomed overhead, only the sound of the Twilight Ravens cawing in the forests on either side of them broke the ominous, but beautiful silence.

Link had not noticed the sheer beauty of this place last time he was here, which was, much to his annoyance, when he and the amazing-in-all-aspects woman on his left had ended Zant's iron hold on this realm.

Midna sighed. "Linky, you certainly zone out more than I remember." Her voice quieting as she spoke.

"Huh? I zone?" Link asked stupidly, looking at the young Twili woman who was almost exactly his height. She was intensely gorgeous, and it made most of the boys in his school(or whatever they called it here; as he couldn't remember the menacingly long name, so Midna and he dubbed It school for convenience) sinful towards him and his luck, being one of the few who was able to freely talk to the technical next ruler of their country of Tielna, even though she really didn't want the crown now that Zant was gone. Too much trouble, but her care for her people never faded.

One of the many aspects of the Twili Link just could not seem to grasp was their bodies. Apparently their forms were very tentative, and depending on how much 'light' they were exposed to, their bodies could take shapes closer to Twili resemblance, or to Hylian resemblance.

Link was still confused on this, so he decided to ask Midna about it again.

"Hey Midna," He began,

"Hmmm?" She spoke, looking over at him softly, their paces down the dirt path almost exact.

"Tell me again, what's the deal with your Twili bodies and light?"

She stopped, and looked at him, flabbergasted.

"Oh, come on Link, I've told you _so_ many times already! GRRRR! Knil, please explain to this dope how we work again."

She got ahead of them on the trail, and Knil matched his quick pace to Link. Link looked up at him, still perplexed on how they were practically the same, yet so different. Knil was his height, had his hair, his strength, and someone would confuse the two if not for Knil's airplane ears and body markings. The similarities were easily explained, for, as Midna put it, Knil is to her as Link is to Zelda. Protector and princess.

Only Knil's time of heroism had not yet come, for he was taken out by Zant very quickly and turned into a Shadow Beast until the time he was killed, thus, Knil was not awed by every girl in as Link was back in the Light Realm.

Knil then began, "Link, here are the basics. A Twili's body is not put in stone, we alter our shapes when exposed to light of your world. However, we can protect against transformation by using technology we have created known as Twilight Spores. When Midna was in her smaller form, at least 2 or 3 of these spores had infected her, heavily altering her shape to look more Twilight based than her regular. When the evil king Ganondorf was killed by you," He paused, looking into Link's eyes, wondering, "Midna's Twilight Spores were destroyed, and the light in the realm caused her to attain a more Hylian appearance, until she returned here and shattered the Mirror of Twilight, the _supposed_ last entrance to our Realm, which is obviously not true due to your presence here.

Link grinned, he really had worked hard to find a way into this realm again, which ended up being in another country altogether, the one directly south of Hyrule, to be exact.

Knil continued his long and boring explanation, finishing that a Twili's normal form, or at least as normal as you can get, is much like Midna's cursed form, only in reasonable proportions. Meaning, the long ears, fire-colored hair(Knil's hair was in fact blood red), black and pale markings, along with the occasional neon green symbols a Twili could be born with, only with Hylian size proportions.

Link followed most of this, and concluded mentally that even with no Twilight Spores in her, she was, in fact, still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and she was only a year older than him. He was 18, one year since Ganondorf's final breath, his legacy of war, fear, and blood ended at last, and with no heir, things seemed well on the Light side of the realms.

Knil concluded his speech, and quickened his pace once again to match Minda's. Link had no idea how the guy could move like that, but decided not to think on it much, as he caught up to them just as they arrived at the massive, circular staircase up to the palace.

Link groaned again, and Midna snickered back at him.

They were halfway up when Link had to stop to rest. Even the countless "educational" battles at school could not toughen him up to tackle the entire stone staircase without stopping at least once. He was panting, and Midna came up from behind him. She patted him on the back, and smiled warmly.

"Come on, Linky. What kind of Hero are you? Losing to a feeble staircase. That massive dick-thing in the forest temple was tougher."

He laughed. The things she could always do for him. Encouragement, help, care. They had gotten off to a pretty bad start, but over their adventure they had truly began to care for one another. They were family.

That was the reason he came back here to see her. She was a part of him now, part of who he was, his essence, and he felt fine acknowledging that.

Midna knew it too, and the same applied to her. She just couldn't live without the guy, he was fun, and so caring and helpful to everything she was.

They both grinned at each other, and then laughed, before continuing up the stairs in silence.

It had been a month since Link had thrown away everything he had, friends, family, fame, for her. And now, he loved it. Every aspect of this world was amazing to him. He couldn't get enough of it. Still, deep in his mind, down the hall he didn't like to think about, he knew he had to return to Light Realm one day.

Soon. And that was slowly eating away at him.

He looked out at the brilliant black-yellow sky, snaking its hands in every direction. The majesty of it truly awesome.

He loved this sky so much, yet there were people that lived under another sky he also loved, and he realized to his horror as he walked side by side with Midna, the sole reason for his being here, that he never even told Ilia or Zelda he left.

God Fucking damnit.

-------

Zelda paced quickly back and forth in Telma's Bar, wearing a black, skintight long sleeve under a loose, white shirt with a black Triforce on the back, near her neck. Her bottom half was covered by dark blue Cargo Pants, her newest love in lower garments now that she wasn't needing to wear a dress everywhere she went.

The kingdom was in a rebuild stage, lives being saved, villages helped, and many new monster hunters cleaning up after Ganondorf. Link had been the leader of them all, the Hero of Twilight they called him, before he disappeared into thin air not a month earlier.

"Settle down. They're on their way, dear." Telma smiled over to Zelda as she stopped pacing and walked over to where she stood behind the bar.

"I'm really sorry Telma, I'm just so…well, distressed since Link left. We really _need _to find him. He's inspiration, someone to look up to, a hero…" She sighed, and her head fell limp, letting her long, golden brown hair to slither across the table in all directions.

Telma sighed. "Sweetie, you really need to stop moping over him. I know he's your good friend, and he should have told you when he left, but only the goddesses know where he is right now. He just saved an entire world from a madman of power that really shouldn't exist." Zelda raised her head and looked through her silky hair at her, "And that can make one need some time to think. He's likely off in Gerudo Desert pondering the things that have happened."

Zelda sighed again deeply, worry in her liquid golden eyes. She agreed to Telma's words, and decided it was a time of patience.

At that moment, the door jingled, and a familiar loud and boisterous voice entered the small room. Zelda smiled.

"We're baaaaaaack!" Drei called, his poofy striped tail waving in the air behind him. He walked over and leaned on the bar, grinning most happily.

Drei, Zelda thought. Link's right hand man in the monster hunting world. A enthusiastic guy only a few years older than Link, and a Sancure, a race of Desert dwellers from the country of Exlian, directly northwest of Hyrule. A truly massive country of only sand and giant fucking moldorms the size of houses.

After him came the others of his party.

Dhimina, a witty and intelligent Gerudo from Northern Gerudo Desert, and Drei's girlfriend.

Amira, a Veren, a peaceful race who fed on the blood of animals and monsters alike. They had really tough feet, and large, ultrasonic ears. Their race bore red markings on various places of their bodies as well. The Verens came from the southeastern country of Valirne, another wasteland. This time no desert, just endless rocks and mountains with no life at all. Only the dead center 500 square miles of the massive country had life in the form of forests, abundant in peaceful living environment in an otherwise deadly place. Amira was a wild one, that's for sure. Strong, Happy, full of life, but shy as well. And easy to piss off. A deadly combination. Zelda shuddered at the thought of her bad side.

Then came Azrien, a strong and caring Werevnal, the other of the two "fuzzy" races alongside the Sancure, yet the only fuzz on him was his ears and tail. The Werevnal are known for their high intelligence, cool and collected personalities, and light brown skin to complement their ears and tails of the same color. They rise from the deep Faron forests, and many prefer no contact with other races. The one close to him was the wise and beautiful Yunri of the Rito tribe, winged people of the northeastern costal country of Roalii. Azrien and Yunri were likely the most open about their relationship of the entire group.

They really didn't hide their love, including the noise they made at night Zel heard occasionally when they shared a house for brief periods of time. That bugged her quite a bit.

These people were some of Link and her's closest friends, along with Zelda, Malon, Saria, and the Hyrule Resistance. Now not much of a resistance with Ganondorf's fall, they were all inseparable, with Telma acting as something of motherly figure to all the younger ones, which was pretty much everyone except Auru and Rusl, as the rest were under 24, the youngest being Saria, a very fun and loving Hylian of 15, and the oldest of the 'kids' being Azrien, at 23.

The gathering of the Monster Hunters at the bar was Zelda's idea. Literally everyone in the kingdom now knew of Link's disappearance, and now it was time to find him.

"Alright, people," She began, looking at them happily as they lined up against the wall parallel to the bar where Zelda sat," First of all, it's nice to see you all again, it's been what, a week?" She smiled. "We need to find Link. Now. Any ideas?"

"Well, he could be in Gerudo Desert thinking, it's a good place for that, you know." Azrien suggested, his tone light and convincing.

"Ha." Telma said from behind the bar, arms crossed, her nose up.

Zelda shot her an annoyed look, then, went back to the monster hunters. "It's always a possibility, yet I don't see Link there just to think about things. And, he _definitely_ would not stay there for a month. It's hot as hell, and there are Moldorms everywhere."

"Psshhh, freakin' tiny ones. Nothin' to 'em."

"Shuddit, Drei" Zelda snapped at him. He backed away grinning.

"Let's think about this for a moment," Yunri said quickly from under Azrien's arms. Who is Link? Do we really know him enough to predict his conscience? If he's been gone for almost a month, he likely isn't on some thinking trip. He's probably not planning on coming back anytime soon, too. So, where would he go? He's not in Ordon or Kakariko. Rusl would know, and we ourselves have base camp in Kakariko Village for our hunting across the country, not the best site, but it's worth it for the hot springs."

"Oh yesssss…" Amira said for the first time that discussion, "Ever so heavenly…" She wrapped her arms around herself dramatically.

"So we've narrowed it down to no towns." Dhimina concluded for Yunri, "That's not much, we still have an entire country, maybe more."

"More…" Zelda murmured, deep in thought. "It's more than possible he's outside the country, or maybe he's up with those Yetis again…?" She cocked her head, and leaned against the bar next to Telma, who was now washing dishes.

"And there goes our second super thinker," Amira said happily, "She'll figure it out. She always does."

"I certainly hope so," Dhimina added, "I need to get back in the field. I care about Link, yes, but I need action! C'mon Drei, let's go bash some Bokoblin skulls!" She said enthusiastically to her boyfriend, mimicking a boxing position.

Drei laughed, then put his arm around her affectionately and asked whispered in her ear for patience. She frowned a bit, then melted into his side, and closed her eyes for a moment, content with her position as long as he was there too.

"Awwwwww" Amira teased, "You two are so cuuuuuute!" She squealed happily, hopping up and down. "When can we expect wedding bells!?"

Dhimina opened her eyes lightning fast and shot her a 'shut up' glare, her face bright red. Drei was smiling, his face equally crimson, if not more.

"Ahhhhh…" Yunri sighed contently, "You're just jealous Amira."

"WHAT!?"

"Yup, admit it. You want the pleasures of having someone to love."

Now it was Amira's turn to blush, lowering her head.

"L-Lies…"

"Riiiight." Yunri said softly, rubbing it in by slowly allowing Azrien to further pull her toward his warm body. "I have Azrien, Dhimina has Drei, hell, even Zel here has her knight in shining armor, Link."

That grounded Zelda in the real world. She sputtered.

"W-What?! Hardly! He's my close friend!"

"How close are we talking? Didn't you two fall asleep once at his place?" Yunri said suggestively.

"AAAARGGGH!!" Zelda bellowed, flinging her arms into the air, "Why are we talking about lovers when I'm trying to think about where Link is!?"

Everyone laughed, Drei bellowed with the humor. Zelda was red as a rose.

"Oh, to be young again…" Telma said softly to herself, smiling.

Then Zelda thought of something she hadn't considered before.

"W-Wait…" She mumbled, and everyone stopped and looked at her. Even Telma, who was washing mugs contently looked over at her, recognizing the seriousness in her voice.

"Lovers…women…friends…" She trailed off, then mumbled, "Midna…"

Everyone froze. They knew well of Link and Midna's travels, and how close they were to each other.

They all thought about it. It really did make a lot of sense for them to try and meet again…

-------

Link was pacing back and forth around the large room. Dark light poured in through a window carved into the wall, and through a skylight in the ceiling designed in much of the same fashion.

Midna lay comfortably on her bed, in the back of the Palace of Twilight Throne Room. Only herself, Knil, and Link were ever allowed back there. Not even her advisors were granted admittance.

The room was nice, that's for sure. It was mostly dark colored, built entirely from Twilight Particles. The ceiling high, massive bed in the head of the room, with steps up in the corners that housed desks and dressers.

A room fit for a princess.

A twilight princess.

"C'mon, Link! Take a rest from walking! I bet you need it!" Midna yelled over at him from her bed, as he paced from the large stone door to the right hand corner of her room and back. She was still fully dressed in her usual black cargos and orange tank top, with a bleach white overcoat on over it.

She sighed. Link was being paranoid, stressing too much about his little slip-up of not telling _anyone _he was here. He came to see _her_, and it ticked her off slightly that he was worrying about the girls back home already.

He was now muttering to himself, and she had it.

Before he could hear her yell at him, he had a dark green pillow in his face, and he was sprawled on the ground where he fell.

"Ouch." He whimpered, looking over at Midna after forcing himself on his feet again, "That was mean." He tossed the pillow back onto the bed.

She smirked, "Now that you're off the City in the Sky, how about you come over here and tell me what your thinking." She said, patting the area of soft bed next to her.

He sighed, then obliged, "Well," he began, his voice tired, "Knowing the family I left behind, they'll be starting a search right about now. And, with Zel and Yunri on their side, it'll be quite easy for them to figure out where I am."

"Yunri? _Another_ girlfriend?" She was shocked.

"No no, she's actually deathly in love with my good friend Azrien, and I really can see them under wedding bells eventually." He grinned at the thought, before laying back on the softer-than-it-should-be bed, with his hands relaxed behind his head.

Midna looked back at him curiously before pressing the subject again.

"So then if they're coming after you, and with Zelda and this 'Yunri' person's quick thinking, it won't be long at all before they consider the possibility that you risked you hide to see yours truly again." She was grinning like Amira now, the edges of her mouth stretching across her face in that evil fashion of hers.

It made Link twitch.

Midna frowned, "Some thing wrong, Linky?"

"No, no…"

"Whaaaat, I remind you of Yuuuuunri…?"

"No, Amira, actually."

"Whoah! Whatta player!"

"Eh!?" He snapped his eyes open from the trans he was in, not realizing what he had said, "No way! She's cute, good intentioned and a nice person, but psychotic at the same time!"

He was now gesticulating with his hands flying everywhere, and Midna burst out laughing, her wavy magma-orange hair flowing behind her. It was truly funny and cute at the same time to see Link so flustered. Deep down, he really was a good guy. She hit herself in the head when she realized she was blushing.

Link had clamed down now, and was resuming his lying position on the bed, eyes closed, yet she could see he was still tense, awaiting another remark from her.

She sighed, and tried to get some conversation going again.

"So…How many girls _have_ you made friends with now?"

He chuckled. "More girls than guys, I can say that…"

"Reeeeally?"

"Yup. Zel, Amira, Malon, Saria, Dhimina, Yunri, Ashei, and now your Twili friends I met recently, Risa and Khalia. And I must ask, are _all_ Twili as beautiful as the ones I've met?" He inquired of her, as he gazed up at the skylight.

She laughed, her face only a little red, yet this time only mentally hit herself. "Yeah, pretty much. We have _really _high metabolisms, and our…boobs…are naturally large due to such harsh living conditions thousands of years ago when we first arrived here."

When she finished, she looked over at Link, and his face was _heavy _crimson. She giggled, something she rarely did. His face was all red, even up to his ears.

"Touchy subject, maybe?" She inquired, falling backwards onto the bed with a soft thump. She was lying directly next to him, her bright red and yellow eyes on the back of his head. He was obviously trying to hide his flustered face. His hair smelled nice. What the hell was he washing it with!? It was really puzzling her. No, no! She thought! Do _not_ start thinking about his hair again!

"So, then…" She began, trying to get her mind off things, but was interrupted by Knil opening the door and walking in almost entirely silent. This would have annoyed her, but the first thing he said changed her mind.

"Link, are you sick? You're face is on fire!"

Midna bawled so hard the maids in the other room could hear it. She was on the verge of tears when Link finally shot her an annoyed glance, red only slightly gone from his face. She looked up at the ceiling innocently, her fingertip in her mouth.

"Err…Midna, even though you are technically ruler of this kingdom, the people living here are requesting you call it a night, you too Link. You may not know it, but you make quite a ruckus."

Both Link and Midna went red again. What an awkward day.

Knil rolled his eyes at them.

Midna was first to get up, and literally pushed Link off her bed.

"Ooof! Midna, you're so cruel!" He moaned, dramatized pain and torture in his voice.

"Hah! Guilty."

"Please, we all do have Telianeris Levels again tomorrow."

Link looked at him puzzled. Knil sighed, annoyed, and looked at Link, now off the floor and brushing himself off, "Fine," Knil said, "_School_."

"Ah. Right then," Link realized, knocking himself on the head jokingly. "I'll be off then to my quarters. G'Night Midna, you too Knil."

"Night Linky!" Midna called after him, waving her hand in the air.

"Good night Link." Knil said as Link waved a hand back at them.

Link exited the room, the large door opening and closing behind him entirely on it's own. Midna sighed, and lay back on the bed. Knil put the usual glass of water and apple on her bedside before saying good night and making his leave.

"Ahh…Another day of fun awaits." She said smugly. It took her a moment to change out of her dirty clothes and into her fine black nightgown. She looked quickly down at her sleek body imprint through the dress, wondering if she was really so ;gifted' as Link thought. She told herself to forget it, then jumped onto the massive bed happily and buried herself among the large, poofy blankets and fell into a deep and relaxed sleep.

-------

Link awoke abruptly. Knil was knocking annoyingly at the stone door that led to his room, yelling at him to get the hell up. He shouted back at his twili double, then lazily got out of bed.

His eyes were droopy as he began to dress. He could only guess how the fluff Knil got around the Palace so fast, it was _huge_. He figured he had better not know, then slipped into his clothes. A nice, dark green outfit with a frilled collar and a thin neckline, and tan pants.

Whoo.

He was out the door and lazy walking down the long hall as Midna came from around the corner with Knil at her side.

"Ah, Link." Knil stated surprised, then spoke politely, "I had just come to violently force you out of bed. Good to see you up."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Midna frowned at him, "Really so tired? Hurry up, Linky! We need to get to 'school'!"

"I know, I know…" He resembled a redead as he slumped his way outside with Midna and Knil trailing after him. The peaceful, twilight air was refreshing, a slight breeze welcoming him outside. The sky still that same, black and yellow color above them. Sometimes, he still longed for real sunlight.

"Link! COME. ON." Midna was pissed at his laziness now. She grabbed his limp hand and proceeded to drag him across the black stone to the massive spiral staircase that led down to the surface world. He was awake now, and suddenly out of the back of his strange mind, a thought arised. He escaped from Midna's death grip on his hand, and hopped onto the edge of the staircase. Midna looked over at him and sighed.

"Don't do it Link. I'm not cleaning up the mess when you hit the ground a mile down." Midna said to him, as he was judging the height they were at.

He looked back at her, grinned, and jumped, doing a flip and swan dive as he left the safety of the stairs.

Midna waited a few seconds, then chuckled, "Idiot."

"He does do things with no point, doesn't he?"

She grinned at Knil, as they started walking again down the hard staircase. "That's just Link, who he is. A crazy idiot with no sense of what could kill him, and a black-hole stomach to boot."

"Well, he is the hero of his world, and also a hero of ours. He can probably survive a half-mile fall if he needed to."

"Ha! I don't doubt his survival abilities, that's for sure! He takes on any obstacle that comes his way. You should have seen that massive eel thing in the Lakebed temple though, I swear he never lost his grin of pleasure during that fight."

"Yeah, he's an idiot, and also one who'll die early."

"Maybe…I'm still surprised he was able to even _find _another way here, I thought the mirror was the only way." She sighed again and crossed her arms, "Maybe he will die young. Reckless fool. I'll brutally murder him if he dies on me."

"You two are really close. You know him well enough to not be worried when he risks his life for a little exhilaration."

"I guess. We spent a lot of time together fighting in his realm against all sorts of beasts I would have never thought existed. We have our fare share of deadly critters here too, but these things were _massive_.

"Don't go off topic, just how much _do_ you care for Link?"

She looked to her right, directly into her bodyguard's eyes, her face slightly red. "It's not your business, Knil." She made that Amira smirk again, and stuck her tongue out at him before racing the rest of the way down the staircase.

Link was sore. His whole body ached. At least the pain was gone.

Even though he _was_ able to make a good impact absorbation apparatus out of Twilight Particles floating in the air, it still hurt like hell when he landed.

"Argh." He moaned, lying on his back in the emerald green grass. "That hurt. Maybe I should keep off the life-threatening activities for a while." He sprung himself off the ground in a circular motion, and walked between the trees to where the stairs ended in a large, tiled area. Statues headed the staircase, and appeared again every 100 steps or so. He looked up again to see Midna and Knil racing down the steep decline to greet him.

They were plainly dressed, Midna in a frilled button up white shirt with a red tank top over it, and another pair of black, loose cargo pants. She never seemed to run out of clean pairs.

Knil was plain, Whitish grey shirt of more sophisticated origin, a pair of grey pants and a long sleeve under the upper-class-seeming suit-thing he wore over it of the same color. He even wore a dark grey version of the floppy green hat Link had worn most of his journey over a year ago. He still had that outfit of course, only it was hung up in his basement back in Ordon, and likely dusty by now. He really should wear that hat more. It was just plain cool.

Link smiled as they jumped the last five steps and landed loudly in front of him.

"Ta-daaaaaaa," Midna said happily, her arms out as she stood up, "Not bad eh, Linky?"

"Quite nice." He said to her politely, lightly clapping.

"So," Knil interrupted, "we will be late, shall we go?"

"Sounds good, let's be off."

"Alright, but we still have 10 minutes."

"Nevermind that. I'll race you there!" Link shouted back at her, as he bounded off in the direction of the school.

"Hey! That was cheap! No head starts!" Midna cried after him as she too bounded down the road.

Knil sighed, and followed, walking after them smiling.


	2. Chapter 2 Start

Illuminations of Mind

Chapter 2

Start

The council gathered, taking the nine seats around the large, circular table beautifully engraved with ancient Twili letters around the edges, and a huge Tielna Kingdom symbol in the center. The room was almost entirely dark, save for the lamps behind each seat, giving off an eerie golden glow.

"It has been a long while since our last meeting." One of the members spoke. He was Malric, the 'leader' of the Council of Twilight, which ruled directly under the royalty of the kingdom, and at the time, that royalty was Midna, the Twilight Princess, who now had been trying mercilessly to give up her royal status and allow the council to take over.

Midna knew that with Malric leading them, they would rule the land wisely.

"We gather here to discuss what should be done with this kingdom, as our princess has ultimately given up the throne."

"She cannot." Another of the council retorted, slamming his hand on the table, "She cannot be allowed, our kingdom has for ages been ruled by her bloodline. That _cannot_ change."

Malric sighed. He was young, in his early thirties, and was used to dealing with Niloc's objections to almost everything. "Yes, Niloc," He stated calmly, "But I see no better option. With Knil and her friend from Hyrule here, forcing her onto the throne would only cause them to break her out and flee the country."

Niloc slid back in his large, iron seat, and thought this over. Then he spoke, low at first, then loudly, "It still must be done. I stand by my method."

This stated the talking, and the council members began to consult each other's opinions. The entire room was loud, only two members not speaking. There was Malric, waiting for the sound to die down, and then another.

Xelos, was his name. Malric didn't like him too much. He was the newest member of the council, elected not two years ago, before Zant's takeover. He was a strong man, stubborn, young like himself, calm, but highly tactical and an expert in foreign affairs and knowledge of the world connected to theirs, the Light Realm, the realm that Zant had so desperately thought belonged to the Twili, and wanted to take for himself.

The chattering continued, and Malric, tired of all the noise, attempted to quiet the council from its uproar. He succeeded, then, something happened that Malric would never have suspected. Xelos spoke for the first time in many months.

"My dear brothers," He began elegantly, his voice powerful and ambitious. The whole council went silent, ears open for his rare opinions, "Not to suddenly change subjects, but I have a proposal to make to you." He stood, and began to walk around the table, "You all remember not a year ago, when our tenth council member Zant, made a deal with a demon, and almost took our entire country for himself. The greedy bastard." He smirked as he said this, slightly lower key than his speech, "Zant also invaded the Light Realm, as we all remember, nearly adding it to our lands…"He paused, caught his breath, then spoke again, "Until our fair Midna and the one from the other side, Link, defeated him and the demon he became possessed by, killing them both in the process. Such an event none of the people living in our borders will forget easily, yet also an event of inspiration."

Some of the council was murmuring to each other now, yet Malric still had his eyes locked on the man called Xelos, who he began to question to himself of madness.

Still, he kept on with his speech, "An event that has me thinking, why should we stop now, and destroy Lord Zant's dream of ruling this world and the one connected?" As he said this, nine knights entered the room, and stood behind each of the council members. The Council was not surprised, as Xelos had done this before for seemingly no reason at all. "My brothers, I propose, that we continue Zant's dream, and add the Light Realm to our own borders. Their world rightfully belongs to us, and we should take it back-"

"That's enough, Xelos." Malric stepped in, his voice angered and his fists clutched like stones, "We will not continue to listen to your speech of war! That idea is outrageous! We cannot anger the other world even more than we have, their rulers will hunt us down and destroy us!"

"Ah, yes, however, I plan to invade Hyrule first, and if memory serves, all they have left of royalty is a young and naïve princess, much like us."

Xelos took his seat, before asking the final question, his arms crossed across his chest, "So, members of the council, who among you will follow me into completing Zant's grand ideals?"

At first none moved. Then four of the members, including Niloc, nodded.

"T-This is madness!" Maric sputtered, your planning for war this soon after almost all of our nation was enslaved by a madman!?"

Xelos grinned, teeth barred, "Ah, my good Malric…I had really wished you would accompany me, your skills are so well developed to be wasted."

"I would rather die than follow you."

"Ha. Cliché, but so be it."

Malric looked at him questionably, then all emotion was shot from his face as the knight behind him impaled the man with a long, black blade. Malric stared at a smiling Xelos, crimson blood oozing quickly from his chest and mouth. His eyes went golden yellow as the soldier twisted the blade that impaled him, before removing it and allowing Malric's bloody corpse to splat on the table, his pupil-less eyes still on Xelos. The members of the council were speechless, staring at their dead leader's body with pure horror in their eyes.

Zant's right hand man stood, and snapped his fingers. Every member of the council who had not nodded at Xelos suffered the same fate. The meeting ended, and only four members remained, along with their new leader.

He then cleared his throat, smiling warmly at them all, "Thank you for your cooperation. Come with me, we have work to do." He then walked out of the room, the uneasy remnants of the council following him, maybe out of newfound loyalty and admiration, or more likely out of fear of whom they knew would go to any lengths to acquire what he wanted.

They descended the stairs, ending up in the right wing of the Palace of Twilight. The halls were quiet. They walked during the sleeping hours, yet no one could really tell if it was night or day, the sky never changed from it's black and yellow glow.

Xelos stepped onto the final stair, and was greeted by his lieutenant.

"The council has been disbanded, proceed with disposing of the bodies," Xelos whispered into his ear, as he continued out of the palace, the general nodding to him and heading up the dark blue stairs to the council room.

Link, Midna, and Knil did end up late, much to the annoyance of their instructor. He would complain that Midna was never late until Link showed up, and now questioned exactly what they were doing that made them late almost every morning. When asked this, Midna would just respond, "Oh, Link was finding a way to almost die again." At this, the teacher would simply mutter, 'Heroes…'

Midna was sitting down on the bench facing the sparring field, waiting for her turn to be beat up, yet no one ever really went hard on her, as no one would want to purposely beat up their ruler. The fact that she didn't want to wear the crown was irrelevant.

Link was sitting beside her, his head up in the clouds, wondering how long it would be until Zelda finally found him. The princess of Hyrule had changed a lot in the time he had known her. She had never known about the world outside the castle. A week after her father died and she was to take the throne, Zant appeared. After all the baddies had been gutted, she and Link had visited each other regularly, and he taught her the many joys of the world. Fishing, exploring, talking with friends, being who you want to be, not who the world wanted you to be. It turned out that after a little digging into her mind, she was quite the adventurer and loved taking risks. Link didn't think Zelda herself even knew who she really was, but he helped her find out. And that made him happy.

Link sighed, and closed his eyes, his mind still wandering. The wind was blowing through his medium length golden hair, which made him happy. He really liked the wind, something he didn't understand too well about himself.

Knil was in the huge grassy field ahead of them, beating the living crap out of some unlucky guy who happened to be chosen to fight him. Not many dared to challenge Knil or Link, as they soon found out, were masters of almost all sorts of combat. Yet there was another that could rival their talent, one who was running up to Link and Midna at that very moment.

"Miiiiiiiidna!" Khalia yelled over at them, as she jumped ten feet in the air and landed next to the Twilight Princess on the bench. She was about Midna's height, maybe a little shorter, with neck-length bright red hair. She wore glasses only for show, and enjoyed loose clothing on top of tight, such as her green skintight shirt under the black loose one she was wearing.

Midna looked over at her, smiling, "Khalia. I should have known."

"Of course! And a good day to you two, Link!" She smiled at him, yet he was still zoning. Khalia was irritated by this, then devised an evil plot. "So Link, how was Midna in bed last night?"

Link's ears went haywire, he looked at her, shocked, and sputtered, "K-Khalia, yeesh! Don't startle me like that! And I did _not_ sleep with Midna! That's not funny to joke about."

Khalia turned to face Midna once again, only to see her bright red with embarrassment, yet angry at her at the same time. She grinned.

"You know it'll happen."

"It will not, so shush." They whispered back and forth. Link caught very little of their hushed conversation, and really wished he didn't catch any of it.

"Yes it will, and when it does, the entire palace will hear you moaning, and it'll get out, and then to the masses, and then _everywhere_."

Midna gulped at the thought.

"So, when you do, make sure you go somewhere nice." Khalia grinned at her crimson friend, now with her head in her hands, and put her arm around her.

Link tried not to hear what they were saying, much to his failure. Damn my overly large ears, he thought. He went back to zoning, and was completely off guard when another great disturbance came along. She was slinking behind the bench, and Link caught scent of her far too late.

"Link." Risa said calmly, her arms around him from behind the bench.

"Risa. You seem happy today. How are you?" Link inquired, smiling at his blood orange haired friend. She smiled back at him, her half and half black and pale colored face displaying a relaxed smile.

"Risa. Unhand him." Midna said annoyed from the other side of the bench where she sat.

"Awwwwwww. Defending your lover?"

"Why must everyone go on about that!? It's _not true!_" Midna exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air and then sighing, letting them down slowly.

"Fine." Risa said flatly, "I won't pester you until I catch you two showing any signs of love, in any way possible. Meaning even if you two so much as _glance_ at each other with passionate eyes, I will annoy you until we're in graves."

Midna groaned, Link laughed. He enjoyed Risa a lot. She was a fun person to be around. Same with Khalia. Damn, Midna had a good eye for friends.

Then the instructor called for Link and Khalia to spar on the field. They both got up almost in exact rhythm, smiled manically at each other, and headed off to certain doom. Link passed Knil dragging the unconscious body of his opponent across the field, and he gave Link a thumbs up for good luck. Link grinned.

They stood fifty feet away from each other, an overly dramatic breeze flowing through Link's hair. He would enjoy this. Khalia was the only one he'd fought yet aside from Knil who actually stood a chance against him. And he enjoyed fighting when it lasted a while.

"Hand to hand only, no weapons or magic." The ref called from the sidelines, "First down or unconscious is the loser." He raised his hand, and the two fighters stiffened. "Remember, you will be graded on this. Commence round one." He bellowed.

"This will be fun to watch, I've never seen these two fight before." Knil said as he sat down beside Midna.

"Oh yes…" Risa agreed without looking at him, staring off at her friends in the field. Midna grinned at him. She had seen first hand what Link could really do, and she assured Knil that Link had _never_ fought at his full potential in the field.

As soon as the call had been made to start, both Link and Khalia began to sprint towards each other. They dashed, and almost collided in the middle of the grassy field if not for their overly flashy acrobatics. Link punched, and Khalia took the opportunity to grab his momentum and fling him across the grass. He recovered, landing on his feet in an awkward position. He groaned, then got back into the game.

Khalia anticipated his attack style and braced for it, ducking as he flew over her, aiming a punch to her head. She kicked him in the stomach as he went, causing him to cough, and land without catching himself. The pain seared through him, but he ignored it.

He had felt worse.

Link staggered to his feet, staring over at a smirking Khalia.

"Mind in the clouds today, Link?" She asked playfully.

"Shush." He muttered, and charged again, this time with much more speed on his side. Link's sudden acceleration caught Khalia off guard, and he took the opportunity to jump onto his hands, and kick her to the face with the speed of a bullet before landing on his feet. He turned back to look at her, sprawled on the ground, eyes dizzy from the fall.

"Round one winner, Link!" The announcer shouted, absolutely no enthusiasm in his voice, as he was not surprised at all by his quick victory.

Link gave her his hand and pulled her off the ground, smiling.

"Dirty." She accused of him.

"Not so, I used the element of surprise, one of the things we emphasize on here, right?" He patted her back cheerfully, "Good fight. You're very skilled you know."

"Yeah, but I hardly match up to a hero." She bore a heartwarming smile now, and Link went slightly red at her words.

"Bah." He muttered.

She only giggled, then went to her side of the field for the next round. Link followed her example, and began stretching a little before the next part of the match.

"Next round, weapon combat." The teacher called over at them, "No dual wielding or shields."

The two friends braced for a long fight, mentally stabling themselves for whatever the other could dish out.

"Commence!"

Link and Khalia both raised their hands to the side, palms open. Link his left, Khalia her right. They both began heavy concentration, and almost instantly, two black blades appeared in their hands.

Link's sword was about medium size, with a highly decorated handle much like that of the Master Sword. The blade was double edged, and had several spikes along it, giving it a rather dark appearance(Pun not intended).

Khalia chose a lighter blade, still medium size, but single edged with a slightly curved blade. The hilt was thin, with almost no guard at all, but quick.

They stood a few moments, before charging each other. Link thrust his blade at Khalia, yet too slow, allowing her to parry the strike. She countered, slashing at him almost perfectly horizontal. He back flipped to dodge it, then did an upward slash towards her, yet she once again dodged, then struck back at him.

"Wow. Look at those two go." Risa said happily, "They have so much confidence in each other's skill that they can assault the other without holding back."

"It is quite amazing. Their skill is almost unmatched." Knil added, as he crossed his legs and leaned back into the bench. The air was refreshingly cold, the way he liked it. He breathed deep while closing his eyes.

"You know…" Risa inquired, "They're so confident in each other…they might have certain _feelings _about each other…" She looked over at Midna, her eyes glowing devilishly.

Midna shot her a pissed off look, but Risa only grinned at her.

"I thought you said you would stop with the teasing?"

"I take it back, it's too much fun," She looked to Midna, who was now obviously on the edge, "And you can't deny it Midna, every time Link with someone other than yourself is mentioned…you get all worked up inside. Like you can't let it happen."

"Argh. Risa, just drop it. It's hardly worth going on about."

"Fiiiiiiine…just promise me you'll invite me to the wedding."

Midna glared at her, and Risa reverted her attention to the Brawl not 40 feet away from them.

The two opponent's dance continued, exchanging slashes and counters time and time again. Link thrust his blade towards Khalia, she dodged, and returned with a thrust of her own. It went gracefully for a while, until Khalia got under Link's blade, and punched him in the gut. He coughed, and then whirled his blade in a full three sixty degrees. She was surprised at his sudden attack, and for a split second lost her balance. Link took this as a golden opportunity. He came down on her full force, with Khalia blocking only quick enough to save her life. Link's black and green blade bounced back almost instantly from his friend's as he hit it, with Khalia's sword shattering upon the impact.

He stood for a moment. His blade was at his side when he dissolved it. The young Twili looked up at him, smiling. He put his hand out for her, and she took it. The teacher yelled out to the other students, acknowledging Link of his victory. The crowd of people on the edge of the field was hardly surprised. After all, he was an unbeatable hero, slayer of both Zant and the Dark Lord Ganondorf Dragmire. No one could beat him. Right?

Link and Khalia returned to their small circle of friends complementing each other on the fight.

"I'm was really impressed by that spinning slash you performed, Link." Khalia commented as she sat down in between Risa and Knil.

Link grinned. "Thanks. Your form was excellent today, you know."

She grinned back at him. The two locked eyes, mentally challenging each other to a rematch sometime. Link sat on the grass in front of Midna, facing the group.

"So, now what?" He asked, stretching, then yawning.

"I'm not sure. What do you want to do, puppy?" Midna asked him teasingly.

He smiled.

"Well, I see no reason for anything drastic. How about just enjoying the nice weather?" Knil said softly, one eye open. He was very relaxed, as if he were sleeping. Khalia was cuddled up on his side, making a low purring sound. The two were very close. Brother and sister, even. As such, they were very open about being physically close to one another, and sure as hell weren't afraid of showing it.

Link was lying down now, looking up at the dark golden sky. Its patterns reminded him of something. A golden wolf. He knew it was important, but couldn't grasp it at the time. He let it go, and looked to his side. A orange flower was sprouting next to him. Quite beautiful, he thought. It was sort of wavy, flowy, and silky. Absolutely gorgeous. Smooth…like Midna's hair…wait what? He was scrambling mentally, trying to stop himself from wandering like that anymore.

"Link? You had better not be thinking something perverted. You're all red." Midna teased playfully.

"It's not like he can help it, Midna. Not with all us beautifully busty girls around." Risa said jokingly.

Link was even redder now, and trying to look somewhere away from them, yet he was failing quite miserably.

Knil was grinning in his false sleep, Khalia was also red and trying not to listen to them, sinking further into the twilight hero's side. Midna gave Risa a look, likely about the 'busty' part of her tease.

Risa tried to look innocent, succeeding slightly, but Midna could see right through her. Two more students had been picked to spar with one another, with people in the sidelines actually paying attention, now that the fight had no obvious winner.

"Link…what was the Light Realm like?" Risa said after a while, Knil and Khalia likely to actually be sleeping now. If they were still awake, they didn't show it. The breeze in the air was blowing the tops of the trees around the field, and Link felt a sudden change it it's meaning. He missed Hyrule. He loved Tielna, sure, but Hyrule was his home. He had family there. This whole going between worlds thing was really becoming problematic.

"Link…Hellooooo? Anybody in there?" Risa asked him. He stopped his train of thought, then went back to the question.

"Well…it isn't really that different. Sure, the sky isn't yellow and little black sparkiles aren't falling from the sky, but there are trees, animals, and mountains just like here. I'd say the main difference is the races. Here in the Twilight Realm, the only humanoid race you have are the Twili. In the Light Realm, we have a lot of races. Hylians, Zoras, Humans, Gorons, the Rito, Verens…the list really goes on."

"Wow. When you and Midna had your big and romantic adventure there, did you meet most of these races?"

"Actually," Midna began, "Some of the races such as the Rito and Veren don't really inhabit Hyrule, the country we were fighting in." She said as she shrugged, and then added, "Though I really would like to see some of them."

"Hey, if we ever get back there, I'll introduce you to some of my friends who are of the races we didn't encounter," Link told them happily.

"Wow." Risa exclaimed. "How many people have you met?"

"A good number. They're all wonderful people and you'll love them all as much as I do if you ever meet them."

Risa smiled, then added, "Well, have you slept with any of them?"

"No." Link said flatly. "They're my siblings, not my pleasure devices."

She laughed. "Midna tells me the majority of them are girls. Is this true?" She was sitting on the grass in front of him now with Midna on his left, and wearing a new shade of red.

"…Yeah, it's true. And I love them like sisters, not lovers."

"Oh, come on." Risa said blatantly, "I'd bet _some_ of them have the hots for you."

"Look, no, okay? Of my friends back in Hyrule, none of them appeal to me in that way."

"But you're the Hero of Hyrule!" She practically yelled at him, "You saved the whole damn Light Realm from certain doom! And you mean to tell me you haven't gotten _any _action at all!?"

"Well…I'm kind of…well…a…" He was slipping on his words as he tried to explain.

"A virgin? The great hero. A virgin." Link and Midna could tell her mind was not grasping the possibility.

"Alright, Risa, he's a virgin! So am I, and you, and Knil, and Khalia as well! What's the big deal?" Midna said harshly after being silent for most of the conversation.

"Well, he is a hero...I only figured in the other realm a hero would be more appreciated by the girls." She lowered her voice back to regular, calming herself, "And how can you be sure Khalia, Knil, and I are virgins?"

"Well, let's see. Link's 18, I'm 19, you're almost 18, Knil's 20, and Khalia's also 18. I doubt any of us would have lost our purity so soon." Midna concluded, crossing her arms. Link was now lying back and looking at the sky again, zoning out.

"I suppose." Risa admitted, "Well, Link's red as blood, so let's change the subject."

Midna looked over at her heroic friend, and sure enough, his face was as crimson as Risa had described it. He sure did get red easily. How cute. She couldn't stop herself that time from thinking it. Link looked at her curiously, and she could tell what he was wondering.

"Yes, Link," She smiled at him, "I _am _a virgin. Now why are you thinking that?"

"Meh. Just curious." He said, and went back to looking at the sky.

"Riiiiiight." Risa said.

They both shot her an angry look.

The air was refreshing, a cool breeze flowing through the trees. The sky looked the same as did every day for the past 2000 plus years. The field was filled only with one pair of fighters as he approached. The instructor was hitting students who were making bets on the fight with a long stick. Not any sort of weapon, that's for sure. The ground was silent under his feet as he walked up to the teacher.

"Excuse me." He asked the man.

The students went silent, and the lord of the class turned to look at him. "Who are you? Do you need something? I'm very busy right now."

"I am a messenger from General Yuelren. Where can I find the Twilight Princess, Midna?"

"Eh? Oh, she's over there on the bench with her friends." He nodded in the direction of Midna, then went back to his students.

The messenger walked swiftly over to her. The group was apparently talking about things best not described. They were on alert when he arrived. The Hylian boy with the dark golden hair had his hands flexed as if to form a weapon.

"At ease, Twilight Princess." He said softly, then added, "And company." The girl slightly relaxed, but the boy did not. He had a very curious canine-like feel to his presence.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me? You had better not be another idiot trying to tell me I need to rule this land," Midna told him.

"I am a messenger of the General Yuelren. I have come to inform you of some recent news."

"News…?" She asked curiously.

"Yes. Half the Council of Twilight has been murdered. Come with me." Before he turned and began walking, he noticed the absolute horror in her young eyes, and almost regretted volunteering to do this part of the plan.


End file.
